


Rings and Flowers

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Comment Fic 2017 [10]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-19 00:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9409265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: Written for the fic_promptly prompt: "Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard/Rodney McKay, Springtime in Atlantis."Rodney decides he wants to celebrate spring.





	

Rodney didn't realize it was spring on New Lantea until he was going through his email inbox and accidentally opened an email he'd meant to click on so he could delete it en masse with the rest of the junk cluttering up server space. It was one of those base-wide emails that were sent out periodically, that he always ignored.  
  
_First Official Day of Spring on New Lantea. Happy Spring, Atlantis!_  
  
It was from the base astronomers, meteorologists, and botanists.  
  
There weren't a lot of Earth-based celebrations they followed on Atlantis, because it was their workplace. They officially celebrated New Year, Christmas, and the Marine Birthday, but other than that, it was an international expedition, and it wasn't appropriate to go celebrating things like Valentine's Day and Easter at work (though Lorne was known to give his teammates homemade chocolates for Easter).  
  
They did go off-world to celebrate a few Athosian festivals, and some other Pegasus Native festivals, on account of maintaining good relations between Atlantis and the rest of the galaxy.  
  
The first day of spring really was no cause for celebration. It was just a change in seasons, and it didn't really affect Atlantis, because the greenhouses produced year round.  
  
But Rodney was struck with the need to do - something.  
  
So he shut down his computer and left his quarters and went hunting for his team. John was off-world, supervising Lorne's team's talks with the Travelers. Rodney found Teyla and Ronon in the mess hall, post-sparring. He asked Teyla if the Athosians did anything special for spring. They did not. He asked Ronon if the Satedans did anything special for the new season.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"What is it you do? You've never done anything before."  
  
Ronon shrugged. "Never had anyone to do it with. Not since I came to Atlantis."  
  
Rodney eyed him. "It takes two people?" Was this like that awful hitting game with the sticks?  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What do you do?"  
  
"It's complicated. Why?"  
  
"I feel like we should do - something. To mark the passing of the seasons."  
  
"I thought that was what the email from the Seasonal Committee was for." Ronon looked amused.  
  
"What would you like to do?" Teyla asked. "Did you do anything special on Earth?"  
  
Rodney never had. There were no Canadian spring festivals he could think of. He knew Kusanagi had the cherry blossom festival, but there were no cherry trees on Atlantis. Dispirited, Rodney thanked Teyla and Ronon for their help, and he headed to the lab to get something done, take his mind off of this sudden, irrational burst of sentimentality.  
  
John would get back tomorrow, and he would talk Rodney out of this insanity.  
  
Rodney didn't much like sleeping alone, though. That night, he tossed and turned for seemingly hours before falling into dreams.  
  
He dreamed he was floating. It wasn't peaceful, like he thought it would be. Rather it was - rolling. Disorienting. And the clouds weren't soft and fluffy. They felt like grabby hands.  
  
Rodney woke in the back of a jumper, just as it was landing.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
"Easy, Doc," Major Lorne said.  
  
Rodney blinked. "Lorne? I thought you were gone."  
  
"Back now." Lorne smiled easily, and the rear hatch of the jumper opened. "Have fun, Doc."  
  
Rodney pushed himself to his feet. He was still wearing his pajamas. "Fun doing what?"  
  
"Step off and find out."  
  
Rodney was deeply suspicious of Lorne's pleasant, dimpled smile, but he headed out of the jumper. Teyla and Ronon were waiting for him. Teyla handed him a bundle of clothes, and then she and Ronon held up some blankets as a privacy shield so Rodney could change. Teyla also handed him a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bottle of water so he could clean his teeth, and Ronon handed him a comb.  
  
"What's going on?" Rodney asked it more than once, but Ronon and Teyla just kept foisting hygiene implements on him and then herding him away from the jumper.  
  
They were on the mainland, from the looks of it. On the beach. Lorne had landed the jumper high up on the sand, out of the water's reach even at high tide. Ronon and Teyla urged Rodney along the sand, following a single set of footsteps.  
  
Rodney was glad he was barefoot, noticed Ronon and Teyla were too. The footsteps seemed to go on forever, but Rodney trudged along silently, having given up asking questions.  
  
He rounded an outcropping of rocks and saw -  
  
John. Barefoot, wearing pants rolled up around his ankles, a button-down shirt, and a crown of flowers in his hair. The flowers should have looked ridiculous, but he looked - beautiful.  
  
And then he smiled.  
  
Rodney's breath caught in his chest.  
  
"Hi, Rodney."  
  
Finally he found his voice. "John. What's going on?"  
  
"Teyla and Ronon said you were interested in celebrating spring on New Lantea," John said, walking toward him. "It's traditional, on Sateda, to get engaged in the spring, so you can marry in the fall."  
  
"Engaged?" Rodney echoed numbly.  
  
John nodded. "On Earth it's tradition to use rings. On Sateda, flowers." He held up a bouquet of flowers, like the ones he was wearing. "So, Rodney McKay, will you marry me?"  
  
Rodney stared at the flowers and saw, nestled among the blossoms, a little black velvet box. There was only one possible answer. "Yes. Yes, I will." He accepted the flowers, stared helplessly at the little box, and then John leaned in and kissed him.  
  
Ronon said, "Let this new life strengthen this new love."  
  
Rodney had forgotten he and Teyla were there.  
  
Teyla said, "I have witnessed it."  
  
Her words sounded even more formal. Of course. This was the Satedan spring ritual. Rodney pulled back from the kiss but tucked himself against John's side, turned to face his other teammates. Only it wasn't just his teammates, but Lorne and his team, Woolsey, Kusanagi, Zelenka, and a whole host of other Atlantis personnel.  
  
They were all carrying flowers. Some of Lorne's Marines were carrying food.  
  
Ronon stepped forward and congratulated Rodney and John, with some more of that ritual formality, and Teyla did the same. Then Ronon turned and faced the crowd and said,  
  
"And of course, on Sateda, no celebration is complete without food and drink. Let's feast!"


End file.
